Preview
FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022
02/27/2022 05:11
09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 12
2 A No.
3 Q Will a better looking hotel be
4 more likely to obtain financing in your
5 experience?
6 A Yes.
7 Q If it is dumpy and full of bed
8 bugs and the floors are crap, and the first
9 floor smells like a sewer, do you think it
10 would be easy to obtain financing?
11 A No.
12 Q The better the Vetiver Hotel
13 looks, the more it will appraise for and the
14 more likely you will obtain financing to
15 purchase, right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q How many years position did you
18 think you needed at the time, November 29th,
19 2016, how many years position did you think
20 you needed in order to obtain financing?
21 A Minimum of two and three -- about
22 three years.
23 Q Somewhere around two to three
24 years, right?
25 A Yes.
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 13
2 Q And you had to develop the hotel
3 so you could attract more guests, generate
4 more revenue, and pay off your monthly
5 obligation to Long Island City Partners; is
6 that right?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And on top of that, it wouldn't
9 hurt to net a profit if I am I wrong?
10 A No.
11 Q I'm wrong?
12 A No.
13 Q So since the purchase option in
14 the management agreement contains set prices,
15 you can spend without having to worry about
16 Mr. Bahar increasing the purchase price,
17 assuming he would follow the agreement,
18 right?
19 A Yes.
20 Q The only thing you had to worry
21 about is Mr. Bahar terminating the agreement
22 early without cause; isn't that right?
23 A Yes.
24 Q Is that the reason why you were
25 insistent throughout the entire negotiation
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FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022
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09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 14
2 process, starting from your August 29th,
3 2016, e-mail in Claimant's Exhibit 14 to the
4 morning of November 29th, 2016, e-mail in
5 Claimant's Exhibit 24-1, that if Mr. Bahar
6 terminated early without cause, he would owe
7 you a $2 million early termination fee?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Was that your priority number one
10 concern?
11 A Yes.
12 Q When you initially demanded the
13 $2 million early termination fee on August
14 29th, 2016, via e-mail contained in
15 Claimant's Exhibit 14, could you have known
16 that Mr. Bahar would terminate the management
17 agreement without cause on November 29th,
18 2019?
19 A No.
20 Q When you and Mr. Bahar signed the
21 initial management agreement on September
22 15th, 2016, contained in Claimant's Exhibit
23 1, could you have known that Mr. Bahar would
24 terminate the agreement without cause on
25 November 29th, 2019?
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 15
2 A No.
3 Q When you and Mr. Bahar signed the
4 management agreement on November 29th, 2016,
5 contained in Claimant's Exhibit 2, could you
6 have known that Mr. Bahar would terminate the
7 agreement without cause on November 29th,
8 2019?
9 A No.
10 Q When you executed the amendment
11 on November 29th, 2016, could you have known
12 that Mr. Bahar would terminate the agreement
13 without cause exactly three years later?
14 A No.
15 Q Was it possible for you on August
16 29th, 2016, September 15th, 2016, or November
17 29th, 2016, to know that Mr. Bahar would even
18 terminate the management agreement without
19 cause at any given date?
20 A No.
21 Q So on August 29th, 2016,
22 September 15th, 2016, and November 29th,
23 2016, was it possible for you to precisely
24 estimate how much money, time, and effort you
25 would have put into the developing the hotel
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FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022
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09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 16
2 at any given point in the next six years and
3 four months?
4 A No.
5 Q Now, Mr. Goidel read from your
6 deposition transcript and used the word
7 penalty; do you recall that?
8 A Yes.
9 Q I want to stick on this same
10 page. I want you to look at the second
11 paragraph. Starting with this agreement can
12 be terminated before the end of the term with
13 120-days' notice. So it says, this agreement
14 can be terminated before the end of the term
15 with 120-days' notice by either party.
16 Penalty to manager for terminating. If
17 terminated by the manager, manager will not
18 be entitled to any compensation, nor entitled
19 to any compensation that is in arrears, and
20 will not have any other financial liabilities
21 to owner. Owner may terminate this agreement
22 for valid cause without penalty or any
23 obligation to manager.
24 So you have the word penalty
25 appearing there twice. Now, what is your
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FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022
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09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 17
2 understanding based on what you just read and
3 based on what your thinking was at the time
4 what a penalty is?
5 A A penalty is a consequence of an
6 action.
7 Q So we have Mr. Bahar, and say you
8 terminate, the, quote, unquote penalty is the
9 consequence, right?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And it's not like this is a
12 criminal penalty?
13 MR. GOIDEL: Objection. It's not
14 like it's a criminal penalty. I mean, it
15 asks for a conclusion of law.
16 MR. FELDMAN: Rephrase it.
17 Q Mr. Bahar, if you had terminated
18 the agreement would you have gone to prison?
19 A No.
20 MR. GOIDEL: Objection. Would he
21 have gone to prison.
22 MR. MOORE: You're the one
23 characterizing it as a penalty. You're
24 the one who brought this up.
25 MR. GOIDEL: I don't want to do
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 18
2 this, continue.
3 MR. MOORE: Thank you.
4 Q The contract says that he can
5 terminate without cause, he, LICP -- I'm
6 sorry. The contract says that you can
7 terminate without, but that you have to pay a
8 price, right?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Okay. And that price is, you're
11 not entitled to any compensation, any
12 compensation that's in arrears, right?
13 A Yes.
14 Q So that's the, quote, unquote
15 penalty, right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Okay. Now give me the ballpark
18 figure of how much the monthly obligation
19 was, the monthly obligation of World Class
20 Hospitality was on any given year, just
21 including owner's distribution and mortgage?
22 A Over 100,000.
23 Q Over $100,000. So again, an
24 owner's distribution was due, and then a
25 different amount for the mortgage. And
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 19
2 that's roughly over $100,000. We're not
3 talking about the other stuff, just that.
4 A Just that part, yes.
5 Q So any given year, the annual
6 obligation would have been at least $1.2
7 million; is that true?
8 A Yes.
9 Q So if the hotel had a terrible
10 month, or God forbid something happened in
11 the world, you would have to take that money
12 out of your own pocket to cover that
13 obligation, right?
14 A Yes.
15 Q So you agreed to the scenario
16 because you knew that if Mr. Bahar had
17 followed the management agreement and didn't
18 terminate it, you would have the opportunity
19 to buy the property at a fixed price with a
20 fixed schedule, right?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And if you didn't want to
23 purchase the property, you have a 14-year
24 lease?
25 A Yes.
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09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 20
2 Q It is your understanding that the
3 early termination fee provided you with a
4 kind of protection?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And that protection was to
7 protect you from investing all this time, all
8 this money, all this effort into developing
9 the hotel only to have that investment taken
10 from you by Mr. Bahar terminating early
11 without cause; isn't that right?
12 A Yes.
13 Q Now, whether an attorney would
14 characterize the early termination fee as a
15 guarantee, liquidated damages clause, and
16 penalty as a matter of law, whatever, what
17 you intended it to be at the time you
18 demanded it in writing on August 29th, 2016,
19 all the way up to November 29th, 2016, that
20 very morning when Mr. Bahar agreed to the
21 early termination fee in the amendment, was
22 to protect your investment in developing the
23 hotel so that if Mr. Bahar terminated early
24 without cause, at least you would get some of
25 that investment back, right?
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
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1 Hearing 21
2 A Yes.
3 Q Okay. Now, I want you to look at
4 the last page of what appears before you, the
5 signature page. This is of the November
6 29th, 2016, management agreement. Could you
7 read out loud the last sentence before,
8 binding arbitration? Could you read it out
9 loud?
10 A Starting with, management shall
11 deliver?
12 Q Yes, sir.
13 A Management shall deliver a
14 certified check of $200,000 payable to Long
15 Island City Partners, LLC, 30 days before
16 October 1st, 2016.
17 Q And you actually gave a check to
18 Steve, right?
19 A Yes.
20 Q For $200,000, right?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And this check is in evidence as
23 Claimant's Exhibit 8; isn't that correct?
24 You can look at Claimant's Exhibit 8, that's
25 the signature?
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09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 22
2 MR. GOIDEL: Exhibit 8, you said.
3 MR. MOORE: 8.
4 Q So let's stick with Claimant's
5 Exhibit -- the one you're looking at. The
6 management agreement. Now is this $200,000
7 payment specifically defined as a security
8 deposit?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Do the words security deposit
11 appear in the sentence you just read?
12 A No.
13 Q Steven couldn't define it as a
14 security deposit because that would mean he
15 was violating the terms of LICP's loan
16 prohibition against leasing?
17 MR. GOIDEL: Objection.
18 A Yes.
19 MR. FELDMAN: What's the objection?
20 MR. GOIDEL: Plainly, what the
21 effect is with respect to his mortgage,
22 whether he puts the word security deposit
23 in his document, that would be violative.
24 MR. FELDMAN: Rephrase the question.
25 You can ask the same way by rephrasing the
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
02/27/2022
1 Hearing 23
2 question.
3 Q So the whole reason why the whole
4 agreement with you and Steve was structured
5 this way was because Steve had a lease
6 prohibition in his loan; isn't that what
7 Steve told you?
8 A Yes.
9 Q So if he had wanted the lease
10 that you have with George on 13th Street, he
11 could have just changed the name and the
12 property location, right?
13 MR. GOIDEL: Objection.
14 MR. MOORE: What's the objection?
15 MR. FELDMAN: Can we hear it?
16 MR. GOIDEL: He would have to change
17 so many things in that document to make it
18 appropriate. Come on, Robert. I
19 understand the point you're trying to
20 make.
21 MR. FELDMAN: Mr. Goidel. Mr.
22 Moore, be a little more specific about
23 that, please.
24 Q So where you initially spoke with
25 Mr. Bahar, there was an e-mail correspondence
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
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1 Hearing 24
2 regarding the terms of the proposed lease; is
3 that correct?
4 A Yes.
5 Q This was in August 2016, correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And Mr. Bahar actually forwarded
8 you an e-mail that his father had sent to
9 him. But then he asked him, Steve, to review
10 the 13th Street lease with you; is that true?
11 A Yes.
12 Q It's actually in evidence, the
13 drafting process of that lease is in evidence
14 in Claimant's Exhibit 12 and 13. You don't
15 have to look at it. So there was the draft
16 of the lease that Steven knew about at the
17 time in late August 2016, right?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Since we're on this, let's
20 actually go to that for a second.
21 MR. FELDMAN: That's Exhibit --
22 MR. MOORE: I'm going to Exhibit --
23 Claimant's Exhibit 12.
24 MR. FELDMAN: Okay.
25 Q You see in Claimant's Exhibit 12,
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
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1 Hearing 25
2 it starts with a $300,000 check you gave for
3 Steve to give to this lawyer for a lease that
4 was never performed?
5 A Yes.
6 Q It's a check that Mr. Idi gave to
7 Steve so that Steve could pay his lawyer to
8 prepare a lease that was never prepared,
9 right?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Now, if we turn the page, we have
12 an e-mail from George to Steve on August
13 25th, 2016, at 7:18 a.m.; do you see that in
14 the middle of the page?
15 A Yes.
16 Q What does George say to Steve?
17 A Steve, please read and give me
18 your comments.
19 Q Okay. Now, what follows is
20 attached as one copy showing the changes from
21 a prior version, versions, et cetera, et
22 cetera. And if we flip through, go to the
23 guarantee a couple of pages later; so you see
24 a guarantee there, a form guarantee?
25 A Yes.
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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66
76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022
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1 Hearing 26
2 Q Okay. And if you flip a couple
3 more pages, we have the lease, right?
4
Preview
FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 12 2 A No. 3 Q Will a better looking hotel be 4 more likely to obtain financing in your 5 experience? 6 A Yes. 7 Q If it is dumpy and full of bed 8 bugs and the floors are crap, and the first 9 floor smells like a sewer, do you think it 10 would be easy to obtain financing? 11 A No. 12 Q The better the Vetiver Hotel 13 looks, the more it will appraise for and the 14 more likely you will obtain financing to 15 purchase, right? 16 A Yes. 17 Q How many years position did you 18 think you needed at the time, November 29th, 19 2016, how many years position did you think 20 you needed in order to obtain financing? 21 A Minimum of two and three -- about 22 three years. 23 Q Somewhere around two to three 24 years, right? 25 A Yes. LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000551 1 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 13 2 Q And you had to develop the hotel 3 so you could attract more guests, generate 4 more revenue, and pay off your monthly 5 obligation to Long Island City Partners; is 6 that right? 7 A Yes. 8 Q And on top of that, it wouldn't 9 hurt to net a profit if I am I wrong? 10 A No. 11 Q I'm wrong? 12 A No. 13 Q So since the purchase option in 14 the management agreement contains set prices, 15 you can spend without having to worry about 16 Mr. Bahar increasing the purchase price, 17 assuming he would follow the agreement, 18 right? 19 A Yes. 20 Q The only thing you had to worry 21 about is Mr. Bahar terminating the agreement 22 early without cause; isn't that right? 23 A Yes. 24 Q Is that the reason why you were 25 insistent throughout the entire negotiation LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000552 2 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 14 2 process, starting from your August 29th, 3 2016, e-mail in Claimant's Exhibit 14 to the 4 morning of November 29th, 2016, e-mail in 5 Claimant's Exhibit 24-1, that if Mr. Bahar 6 terminated early without cause, he would owe 7 you a $2 million early termination fee? 8 A Yes. 9 Q Was that your priority number one 10 concern? 11 A Yes. 12 Q When you initially demanded the 13 $2 million early termination fee on August 14 29th, 2016, via e-mail contained in 15 Claimant's Exhibit 14, could you have known 16 that Mr. Bahar would terminate the management 17 agreement without cause on November 29th, 18 2019? 19 A No. 20 Q When you and Mr. Bahar signed the 21 initial management agreement on September 22 15th, 2016, contained in Claimant's Exhibit 23 1, could you have known that Mr. Bahar would 24 terminate the agreement without cause on 25 November 29th, 2019? LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000553 3 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 15 2 A No. 3 Q When you and Mr. Bahar signed the 4 management agreement on November 29th, 2016, 5 contained in Claimant's Exhibit 2, could you 6 have known that Mr. Bahar would terminate the 7 agreement without cause on November 29th, 8 2019? 9 A No. 10 Q When you executed the amendment 11 on November 29th, 2016, could you have known 12 that Mr. Bahar would terminate the agreement 13 without cause exactly three years later? 14 A No. 15 Q Was it possible for you on August 16 29th, 2016, September 15th, 2016, or November 17 29th, 2016, to know that Mr. Bahar would even 18 terminate the management agreement without 19 cause at any given date? 20 A No. 21 Q So on August 29th, 2016, 22 September 15th, 2016, and November 29th, 23 2016, was it possible for you to precisely 24 estimate how much money, time, and effort you 25 would have put into the developing the hotel LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000554 4 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 16 2 at any given point in the next six years and 3 four months? 4 A No. 5 Q Now, Mr. Goidel read from your 6 deposition transcript and used the word 7 penalty; do you recall that? 8 A Yes. 9 Q I want to stick on this same 10 page. I want you to look at the second 11 paragraph. Starting with this agreement can 12 be terminated before the end of the term with 13 120-days' notice. So it says, this agreement 14 can be terminated before the end of the term 15 with 120-days' notice by either party. 16 Penalty to manager for terminating. If 17 terminated by the manager, manager will not 18 be entitled to any compensation, nor entitled 19 to any compensation that is in arrears, and 20 will not have any other financial liabilities 21 to owner. Owner may terminate this agreement 22 for valid cause without penalty or any 23 obligation to manager. 24 So you have the word penalty 25 appearing there twice. Now, what is your LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000555 5 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 17 2 understanding based on what you just read and 3 based on what your thinking was at the time 4 what a penalty is? 5 A A penalty is a consequence of an 6 action. 7 Q So we have Mr. Bahar, and say you 8 terminate, the, quote, unquote penalty is the 9 consequence, right? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And it's not like this is a 12 criminal penalty? 13 MR. GOIDEL: Objection. It's not 14 like it's a criminal penalty. I mean, it 15 asks for a conclusion of law. 16 MR. FELDMAN: Rephrase it. 17 Q Mr. Bahar, if you had terminated 18 the agreement would you have gone to prison? 19 A No. 20 MR. GOIDEL: Objection. Would he 21 have gone to prison. 22 MR. MOORE: You're the one 23 characterizing it as a penalty. You're 24 the one who brought this up. 25 MR. GOIDEL: I don't want to do LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000556 6 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 18 2 this, continue. 3 MR. MOORE: Thank you. 4 Q The contract says that he can 5 terminate without cause, he, LICP -- I'm 6 sorry. The contract says that you can 7 terminate without, but that you have to pay a 8 price, right? 9 A Yes. 10 Q Okay. And that price is, you're 11 not entitled to any compensation, any 12 compensation that's in arrears, right? 13 A Yes. 14 Q So that's the, quote, unquote 15 penalty, right? 16 A Yes. 17 Q Okay. Now give me the ballpark 18 figure of how much the monthly obligation 19 was, the monthly obligation of World Class 20 Hospitality was on any given year, just 21 including owner's distribution and mortgage? 22 A Over 100,000. 23 Q Over $100,000. So again, an 24 owner's distribution was due, and then a 25 different amount for the mortgage. And LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000557 7 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 19 2 that's roughly over $100,000. We're not 3 talking about the other stuff, just that. 4 A Just that part, yes. 5 Q So any given year, the annual 6 obligation would have been at least $1.2 7 million; is that true? 8 A Yes. 9 Q So if the hotel had a terrible 10 month, or God forbid something happened in 11 the world, you would have to take that money 12 out of your own pocket to cover that 13 obligation, right? 14 A Yes. 15 Q So you agreed to the scenario 16 because you knew that if Mr. Bahar had 17 followed the management agreement and didn't 18 terminate it, you would have the opportunity 19 to buy the property at a fixed price with a 20 fixed schedule, right? 21 A Yes. 22 Q And if you didn't want to 23 purchase the property, you have a 14-year 24 lease? 25 A Yes. LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000558 8 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 20 2 Q It is your understanding that the 3 early termination fee provided you with a 4 kind of protection? 5 A Yes. 6 Q And that protection was to 7 protect you from investing all this time, all 8 this money, all this effort into developing 9 the hotel only to have that investment taken 10 from you by Mr. Bahar terminating early 11 without cause; isn't that right? 12 A Yes. 13 Q Now, whether an attorney would 14 characterize the early termination fee as a 15 guarantee, liquidated damages clause, and 16 penalty as a matter of law, whatever, what 17 you intended it to be at the time you 18 demanded it in writing on August 29th, 2016, 19 all the way up to November 29th, 2016, that 20 very morning when Mr. Bahar agreed to the 21 early termination fee in the amendment, was 22 to protect your investment in developing the 23 hotel so that if Mr. Bahar terminated early 24 without cause, at least you would get some of 25 that investment back, right? LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000559 9 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 21 2 A Yes. 3 Q Okay. Now, I want you to look at 4 the last page of what appears before you, the 5 signature page. This is of the November 6 29th, 2016, management agreement. Could you 7 read out loud the last sentence before, 8 binding arbitration? Could you read it out 9 loud? 10 A Starting with, management shall 11 deliver? 12 Q Yes, sir. 13 A Management shall deliver a 14 certified check of $200,000 payable to Long 15 Island City Partners, LLC, 30 days before 16 October 1st, 2016. 17 Q And you actually gave a check to 18 Steve, right? 19 A Yes. 20 Q For $200,000, right? 21 A Yes. 22 Q And this check is in evidence as 23 Claimant's Exhibit 8; isn't that correct? 24 You can look at Claimant's Exhibit 8, that's 25 the signature? LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000560 10 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 22 2 MR. GOIDEL: Exhibit 8, you said. 3 MR. MOORE: 8. 4 Q So let's stick with Claimant's 5 Exhibit -- the one you're looking at. The 6 management agreement. Now is this $200,000 7 payment specifically defined as a security 8 deposit? 9 A Yes. 10 Q Do the words security deposit 11 appear in the sentence you just read? 12 A No. 13 Q Steven couldn't define it as a 14 security deposit because that would mean he 15 was violating the terms of LICP's loan 16 prohibition against leasing? 17 MR. GOIDEL: Objection. 18 A Yes. 19 MR. FELDMAN: What's the objection? 20 MR. GOIDEL: Plainly, what the 21 effect is with respect to his mortgage, 22 whether he puts the word security deposit 23 in his document, that would be violative. 24 MR. FELDMAN: Rephrase the question. 25 You can ask the same way by rephrasing the LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000561 11 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 23 2 question. 3 Q So the whole reason why the whole 4 agreement with you and Steve was structured 5 this way was because Steve had a lease 6 prohibition in his loan; isn't that what 7 Steve told you? 8 A Yes. 9 Q So if he had wanted the lease 10 that you have with George on 13th Street, he 11 could have just changed the name and the 12 property location, right? 13 MR. GOIDEL: Objection. 14 MR. MOORE: What's the objection? 15 MR. FELDMAN: Can we hear it? 16 MR. GOIDEL: He would have to change 17 so many things in that document to make it 18 appropriate. Come on, Robert. I 19 understand the point you're trying to 20 make. 21 MR. FELDMAN: Mr. Goidel. Mr. 22 Moore, be a little more specific about 23 that, please. 24 Q So where you initially spoke with 25 Mr. Bahar, there was an e-mail correspondence LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000562 12 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 24 2 regarding the terms of the proposed lease; is 3 that correct? 4 A Yes. 5 Q This was in August 2016, correct? 6 A Yes. 7 Q And Mr. Bahar actually forwarded 8 you an e-mail that his father had sent to 9 him. But then he asked him, Steve, to review 10 the 13th Street lease with you; is that true? 11 A Yes. 12 Q It's actually in evidence, the 13 drafting process of that lease is in evidence 14 in Claimant's Exhibit 12 and 13. You don't 15 have to look at it. So there was the draft 16 of the lease that Steven knew about at the 17 time in late August 2016, right? 18 A Yes. 19 Q Since we're on this, let's 20 actually go to that for a second. 21 MR. FELDMAN: That's Exhibit -- 22 MR. MOORE: I'm going to Exhibit -- 23 Claimant's Exhibit 12. 24 MR. FELDMAN: Okay. 25 Q You see in Claimant's Exhibit 12, LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000563 13 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 25 2 it starts with a $300,000 check you gave for 3 Steve to give to this lawyer for a lease that 4 was never performed? 5 A Yes. 6 Q It's a check that Mr. Idi gave to 7 Steve so that Steve could pay his lawyer to 8 prepare a lease that was never prepared, 9 right? 10 A Yes. 11 Q Now, if we turn the page, we have 12 an e-mail from George to Steve on August 13 25th, 2016, at 7:18 a.m.; do you see that in 14 the middle of the page? 15 A Yes. 16 Q What does George say to Steve? 17 A Steve, please read and give me 18 your comments. 19 Q Okay. Now, what follows is 20 attached as one copy showing the changes from 21 a prior version, versions, et cetera, et 22 cetera. And if we flip through, go to the 23 guarantee a couple of pages later; so you see 24 a guarantee there, a form guarantee? 25 A Yes. LEX REPORTING SERVICE 800-608-6085 WCH000564 14 of 612 FILED: NASSAU COUNTY CLERK 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 05:11 09:00 PM INDEX NO. 617805/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 76 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/09/2022 02/27/2022 1 Hearing 26 2 Q Okay. And if you flip a couple 3 more pages, we have the lease, right? 4